Project
Simulation of the Glyphosate Aerial Spray Drift at the Ecuador-Colombia border
Glyphosate is one of the herbicides used by the Colombian government to spray coca fields close to the Ecuadorian border. The sprays have been taking place for a number of years and have been more frequent since 2000 (when "Plan Colombia" started).
![Plane spraying forest](spraying.jpg)
(Image source: Wikipedia)
The spray drifts into Ecuadorian territory have become a big issue for people living close to the border. Their negative impact on health and agriculture have been observed and confirmed by intensive studies (e.g. [Avila et. al. 2007]). Hence, in 2005 Ecuador and Colombia signed an agreement to stop the sprays along a 10 km stripe at the border. However, measurements on Ecuadorian territory indicate that significant amounts of Glyphosate spray have still drifted into Ecuador.
The main goals of this project are to develop a (reverse) numerical simulation of the spray drift, analyze whether the 10 km range is enough to protect Ecuadorian territory and assess whether the agreement has been respected.
![Spraying along Ecuador-Colombia border](border_spray_512.jpg)
Illustration of 10 km strip along the Ecuador-Colombia border. (Airplane not to scale.)
The video presented below gives a survey of the problems at hand and briefly introduces the strategy propose to solve it.
Promotional video for the project.
The video has been part of a project presentation open to the public in the Centro de Exposiones Quito in Ecuador. The spanish original version is available here.
Posters related with the project
- presentation poster ;
Feria SENACYT 2009 ;Centro de Exposiciones Quito, december 11.-13. 2009 Quito Ecuador
Researchers:
Prof. Dr. Hermann Mena (project director, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador)Prof. Dr. Peter Benner (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Dr. Rene Schneider (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Dr. Jens Saak (TU Chemnitz, Germany)
Funded by:
SENACYT (Ecuadorian National Organization of Science)Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador